Enabling AVB on Cisco Catalyst Switches
This article describes how to enable AVB on supported Cisco® Catalyst® switches. This article does not detail Cisco firmware upgrade or initial switch setup procedure. Please see Cisco Catalyst documentation for more detail. Biamp recommends a Cisco certified technician performs switch configuration.
Supported Catalyst models
AVB is supported on all current Cisco 9300 and 9500 catalyst series switches.
Please always check Cisco AVB for all current product information and updates.
Cisco Audio Video Bridging Solution for Converged AV over IP (AVoIP).
Please always reach out to Cisco Support for the latest version of IOS, assistance and further information.
Cisco recommended IOS releases for switches here.
At the time of this article update Cisco IOS 17.12.5 (March 2025) is available.
Catalyst 9300 and 9500 series switches have been certified by the Avnu Alliance.
Discontinuation: Cisco End of Life and End of Sale announcement for Cisco 3850 series switches.
Discontinuation: Cisco End of Life and End of Sale announcement for Cisco 3650 series switches.
Limitations
- AVB is not supported on StackWise connected switches. Fiber and copper links are supported.
- AVB is not supported on ports that are combined using link aggregation (EtherChannel).
- C9300-48UXM only ports 1-16 support PTP.
- C9300-48UN only ports 1-36 support PTP.
Enabling AVB
Prerequisites:
- Cisco IOS with AVB support.
- Switches have appropriate license levels.
- User has access to CLI with configure permissions.
- Switches are not in stacking mode
- Interfaces are not configured for EtherChannel
- Default VLAN 1 / Native VLAN 1 must be enabled on all switches.
- Default username cisco. The default password is the serial number of the switch chassis.
Step 1 - Enable VLAN 1
| Command | Note |
|---|---|
| Switch> enable | Enable EXEC mode. |
| Switch# configure terminal | Enter global configuration mode. |
| Switch(config)# Vlan 1 | Create VLAN 1 |
| Switch(config)# interface Vlan1 | Configure Interface VLAN 1 |
| Switch(config-if)# ip address < 192.168.1.XXX 255.255.255.0 > | Unique reachable IP address for each switch. |
| Switch(config-if)# no shutdown | Ensure the interface is not shut down. |
| Switch(config-if)# end | End global configuration mode. |
| Switch# write memory | Save the switch configuration. |
Step 2 - Enable AVB
Enter the following commands to enable AVB and MVRP (automatic VLAN) on the switch.
| Command | Note |
|---|---|
| Switch> enable | Enable EXEC mode. |
| Switch# configure terminal | Enter global configuration mode. |
| Switch(config)# avb vlan 2 | Enable AVB vlan 2 |
| Switch(config)# avb | Enable AVB. |
| Switch(config)# mvrp global | Enter MVPR global configuration. |
| Switch(config)# vtp mode off | VLAN Trunking Protocol (VTP) can be configured for off or transparent mode operation. |
| Switch(config)# mvrp vlan create | Enable MVRP to create VLANs |
| Switch(config)# avb msrp-join-timer 200 | Set MSRP join timer to expected value |
| Switch(config)# avb msrp-leave-timer 5000 | Set MSRP leave timer to expected value |
| Switch(config)# avb msrp-leaveall-timer 25000 | Set MSRP leave-all timer to expected value |
| Switch(config)# qos queue-softmax-multiplier 1200 | QOS increase this buffer requested by Cisco |
| Switch(config)# end | End global configuration mode. |
| Switch# write memory | Save the switch configuration. |
Advanced variables only needed if you need to manually adjust the pdelay between switches on large networks.
| Command | Note |
|---|---|
| Switch> enable | Enable EXEC mode. |
| Switch# configure terminal | Enter global configuration mode. |
| Switch(config)# ptp neighbor-propagation-delay-threshold 800 | Only change this when you see the delay on the AVB ports exceed default. Typical AVB 1gb endpoint will be ~80ns. Default 800. |
| Switch# write memory | Save the switch configuration. |
For further details, see the Cisco IOS XE command reference guide for configuring Audio Video Bridging.
Step 3 - Configure interfaces with AVB connections to VLAN trunk mode.
Any ports with AVB devices attached must be configured for VLAN trunking mode. The port must also not be administratively shutdown. The following commands show enabling trunk mode for interface GigabitEthernet1/0/1.
| Command | Note |
|---|---|
| Switch> enable | Enable EXEC mode. |
| Switch# configure terminal | Enter global configuration mode. |
| Switch(config)# interface GigabitEthernet1/0/1 | Enter interface configuration mode. |
| Switch(config-if)# description AVB ENDPOINT | Description of what the port is used for. |
| Switch(config-if)# switchport mode trunk | Configure VLAN mode to trunk. |
| Switch(config-if)# spanning-tree portfast trunk | Interface directly to spanning-tree forwarding state. |
| Switch(config-if)# switchport trunk allowed vlan 1,2 | Only allow the needed VLANS for AVB 1, 2 |
| Switch(config-if)# ptp sync interval -3 | Set PTP sync interval log value. Default -3. |
| Switch(config-if)# no shutdown | Ensure the port is not shut down. |
| Switch(config-if)# end | End configuration mode. |
| Switch# write memory | Save switch configuration to memory. |
Configuring port by port is time consuming. The following is an example for configuring all ports 1-24 using the interface range command:
- Switch>enable
- Switch#configure terminal
- Switch(config)#interface range GigabitEthernet1/0/1 - 24
- Switch(config-if-range)#description AVB ENDPOINT
- Switch(config-if-range)#switchport mode trunk
- Switch(config-if-range)#spanning-tree portfast trunk
- Switch(config-if-range)#switchport trunk allowed vlan 1,2
- Switch(config-if-range)#ptp sync interval -3
- Switch(config-if-range)#no shutdown
- Switch(config-if-range)#end
- Switch#write memory
- Switch#exit
Step 4 - Optional Configuration of interfaces connecting to devices requiring class 4 (POE+ and PPoE).
Biamp class 4 devices will require additional 2-event classification commands to negotiate with Cisco Power Sourcing Equipment (PSE).
Cisco indicates 2-event classification allows class 4 Powered devices (PDs) to detect a PSE capability of providing 30W from hardware then register itself moving upward to PoE+ level without waiting for any CDP/LLDP packet exchange.
After 2-event is enabled on a port, you must manually shut/un-shut the port or re-connect the PD again to re-start the IEEE detection process.
Note that power budget allocation for a class-4 device will be 30W when 2-event classification is enabled on the port; otherwise it will be 15.4W.
The following is an example for configuring all ports 1-24 using the interface range command, 2-event POE configuration with additional easy to identify interface description of BIAMP on the ports:
Switch>enable
Switch#configure terminal
Switch(config)#interface range GigabitEthernet1/0/1 - 24
Switch(config)#description BIAMP
Switch(config-if-range)#power inline port 2-event
Switch(config-if-range)#shutdown
Switch(config-if-range)#no shutdown
Switch(config-if-range)#end
Switch#write memory
Switch#exit
The switch does not require a reboot. Connected AVB enabled end points will begin transmitting protocol messages within moments of configuring the switch. Many other specific configuration options are available for the AVB protocols. Please see the IOS XE command reference guides for further details.
AVB status and monitoring commands
The following commands are used to view the status of AVB on the switch and for assisting with diagnosing issues.
| Command | Note |
|---|---|
| show msrp stream | count : | Shows the total amount of AVB streams registered in msrp. |
| show avb stream | count Ready | Shows the total amount of AVB streams on the switch. |
| show avb domain | Shows a high level overview of AVB operation on the switch. Displays stream reservation domain active ports, gPTP neighbor delay and VLAN membership. |
| show avb stream | Displays a high level overview of all AVB streams advertised on the network. |
| show msrp streams brief | Provides a brief view of AVB streams on the network. |
| show msrp streams detail | Provides a detailed output of AVB streams and reservations on the network. |
| show msrp port bandwidth | Shows current stream reservation consumption on the switch ports. |
| show mvrp summary | Shows a summary of VLANs created automatically. |
| show mvrp interface | Displays interface specific MVRP details. |
| show ptp brief | Shows a brief overview of gPTP operation. |
| show ptp clock | Shows the current clock details. |
| show ptp parent | Shows details of the parent clock. |
| show platform software fed switch active ptp if-id {interface-id} | Detailed output of the gPTP operation of a port. Provides neighbor delay threshold and current measured neighbor delay. |
| show version | Shows details of the switch's software version. See Enabling AVB on Cisco Catalyst Switches |
| show license right-to-use | Shows details of the switch's enabled licenses. See Enabling AVB on Cisco Catalyst Switches |